


The Hunger

by EverythingIsNightvale



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Cannibalism, Gen, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Whump, Violence, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21609727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverythingIsNightvale/pseuds/EverythingIsNightvale
Summary: Klaus died, but then he came back. He's alive but things aren't quite the same.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557457
Comments: 6
Kudos: 113





	The Hunger

**Author's Note:**

> My first entry for Bad Things Happen Bingo. The prompt was Came Back Different.
> 
> Also the day I'm posting this is my birthday!

He has died

Klaus hadn’t really had time to process that, what with the apocalypse and all, but he had died. Then he came back. He was dead and now he’s alive. That thought sank in as he laid in bed.

“You should eat,” Ben’s ever-present nagging voice told him. “It’s been days.”

Had it? Thinking about it, that did seem right. Still, he hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah, withdrawal can kill your appetite Benji,” Kalus said offhandedly because it was true. Besides Klaus hadn’t felt hungry at all these past few days.

“I know, but I also know you’re not in withdrawal. You haven’t even had a craving since you...” He trailed off.

Since he died.

That was true. Klaus had thought about drugs. It was hard not to when they had been the main focus of your life for so many years, it was hard not too. Still, he hadn’t actually craved any. Maybe God was good for something.

“At least have some water,” Ben prompted. He was worried about him. That was kind of cute. Klaus did feel rather weak. Maybe water was a good idea. 

“Fine, if it gets you off my back,” Klaus said with a sigh. He pulled himself out of bed and went downstairs. As he neared the kitchen he could smell food. He took a deep breath, thinking that maybe the scent would remind his body of his need for food, but instead it had the opposite effect. It made his stomach turn. He covered his mouth and swallowed down the rising bile. 

“Klaus?” Ben questioned.

Suddenly the smell was all around him. He needed to getaway.

“On second thought Ben, let’s go out. I think I need some fresh air,” Klaus lied. He turned in the opposite direction and moved as fast as he could through the front door. He slipped out into the night, enjoying the feeling of the air against his skin. 

“Fine, but we’re avoiding alleyways,” 

“But they’re always so much fun,” he joked with a laugh. 

“What about the park,” Ben offered and Klaus shrugged, heading in that direction. 

It was late, and the walking trails were dark, but he didn’t mind. It was peaceful at this time of night. Well, mostly peaceful.

“Please,” a ghost begged him. “Please help me. There was an accident. My wife, she doesn’t know. They won’t find my body until the morning.”

Klaus rolled his eyes. Why couldn’t he be left alone for once? He really wasn’t in the mood. He glanced over at the body in question His neck was twisted in an unnatural way. The poor soul must’ve tripped and fallen down the hill. His demise was is own clumsiness. That was unfortunate. Klaus stared at the body for a while. 

“Are you going to tell someone?” Ben asked.

Klaus didn’t answer, he just stared. The body was still fresh. Still warm. Klaus heard his stomach growl. He knelt down. 

“Klaus? What are you doing?” Ben asked. 

“I just want a bite,” Klaus said. His mouth was watering. The hunger hit him so suddenly and now it was all he couldn’t think about.

“A bite? What do you-”

Klaus picked up the arm and sunk his teeth into the bicep. He could feel the blood running down his chin, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. More. He needed to feel full.

He lost himself then. It was like his body was on autopilot. Bite. Chew. Swallow.

“Klaus! Klaus stop!” Ben was screaming. Ben was crying. Had he been alive he might’ve also been shaking. “What the fuck?” He wasn’t screaming anymore. His words were soft and broken. 

“Fuck,” Klaus said, catching his breath now that he was down eating. “That really hit the spot.” He confessed. He looked around, prepared to see a ghost horrified at the sight of Kalus eating his corpse, but the ghost was gone. Well, it’s the little victories.

“What did you do?” Ben asked.

“I thought that would be obvious.” Klaus removed his shirt and used it to wipe off his face. 

“We should get out of here, but anyone walks by,” Ben said. He seemed to be taking some deep controlled breaths despite not needing to breathe. His focus was shifting now, from freaking out to protecting Klaus. 

Klaus nodded. It was late, he didn’t think anyone would come by, but he felt pleasantly full now and he wanted to go home. 

“Are you going to do that again?” Ben asked as they made their way back.

“I don’t know. I feel better than I have in a long time,” he said. 

Ben didn’t reply. They finished their walk home in silence.

A week passed. Klaus seemed to be thriving. He sleeps less than three hours a night but seemed to have boundless energy. He seemed to be more focused. He actually managed to finish a knitting project and Ben even saw him reading. Still, as the week drew to a close Ben could see him beginning to grow wary.

“Ben, I’m hungry,” Klaus said to him that night. 

“There’s food in the kitchen, leftover chicken I think,” Ben tried, knowing that’s not what Klaus was hungry for.

“I can’t eat that,” Klaus said.

“You haven’t even tried though,” Ben argued. 

“Just the thought of it makes me what to puke,” Klaus said. 

Ben sighed. “So what are you going to do? Walk around and hopefully stumble upon another body?”

“Not exactly. We’ll figure it out,” Klaus said, pushing himself out of bed. 

“What do you mean we’ll? Why are you dragging me into this?” Ben asked. Klaus wasn’t dragging, they both knew this. Ben was already following him willingly. 

Klaus ended up sitting on the ground near a bridge. He waited. He had been in this area enough times to know what happened here and sure enough, in time a body came hurtling towards the earth. Klaus put his coat to the side. After all, he didn’t want to get it dirty as he ate.

The bridge wasn’t always a reliable source of food. Some days Klaus needed to take matters into his own hand. Ben didn’t like it, but Klaus didn’t think of it as murder. He thought of it as hunting. 

At first, once a week Klaus would slip out of the house unnoticed to eat, but as the weeks went on, the hunger became more frequent. 

“Where the hell are you going?” Diego stopped him. It was his third time going out this week. Klaus already had pains in his stomach, warning him that mealtime needed to happen soon.

“Just out for a walk,” Klaus said with a small shrug. “You know how I like to take in the city lights after dark.”

“So you don’t mind if I come with you then,” He said, reaching for his coat.

“Actually I do,” Klaus said quickly. “I already have one annoying brother following me around. I don’t need another.” He tried to step around Diego, but he was blocked.

“You’ve been going out a lot lately. Why is that?” He asked. 

“I don’t like what you’re implying,” Klaus said crossing his arms. 

“So I’ll stop implying and ask. Are you doing drugs?” Diego asked.

“I’m hurt that you would even ask that,” Klaus said. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I have plenty of reasons not to. You’re up at all hours. You act all erratic and then you crash. You’ve been sneaking out. You never eat.” Diego listed.

“I eat!” Klaus insisted, irritated. He wanted to go eat right now, but Diego was stopping him. He really should let him pass. Diego was beginning to look tasty. “Just because I don’t eat with you guys and do my own thing doesn’t mean shit.”

“Fine, have dinner with us then. Then go on your walk. Mom made pasta.” He said. He has this challenging look in his eyes.

“Fine. Okay,” Klaus said. He was getting lightheaded. He needed Diego off his back. He needed to eat.

He sat down at the dinner table with a forced smile, making small talk between bites of pasta. He could feel Ben’s worried look burning holes in the back of his head. Every mouthful tasted like eating garbage and was followed by fighting back a gag. It took everything he had to finish the meal before he calmly walked to the bathroom and lost everything. He left after that. His mind felt hazy. He was focused on one thing. He didn’t even notice his siblings follow.

Klaus had been trailing this guy for a while. He was a dealer he knew from before. A dealer but not a user. Klaus learned early on that druggies tasted terrible. This guy was clean. He only sold, turning people into addicts. Especially, kids, he’d be a good target. Thankfully Klaus knew exactly where to get him alone. They were in an ally in an abandoned part of town. The kind of place where no one thought twice about hearing a scream or even a gunshot. Klaus didn’t bother with guns though. Instead, he slammed the other man up against the wall.

“What the, oh Klaus it’s you. Long-time no see,” the man said, squirming under him.

He didn’t have a chance to say anther after that because Kalus sunk his teeth into the other’s throat, ripping it out with ease. 

“Klaus what the fuck!”

Ben needed to shut up. He should be used to this by now. Klaus didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to eat. He needed it.

He was pulled back from his good. He fought the arms that held him back, growling, baring his bloodstained teeth. 

“What’s wrong with him?” That sounded like Vanya. Oh, the others were here. Diego was currently holding him. Diego needed to fuck off. He didn’t understand. None of them did. They need to let him go or they’d be on the menu. Klaus was hungry. Diego smelled good. He turned his head trying to get a bite out of Diego’s arm, which prompted Diego to let him go.

Free once more he went back to his meal, unbothered by the audience. 

“Feeling better?” Five asked him once his meal had concluded. 

“Yeah, much,” Klaus said, the unfamiliar emotion fo shame settling in now that he was pleasantly full. He was hyper-aware of all of the eyes on him. He could feel them judging him. They didn’t understand. They didn’t know what it felt like to go hungry. None of them did. Well, maybe Five. He didn’t look like he was judging.

“We should talk about whatever that was,” Luther said. “Klaus, you just killed someone. You...you...”

“Are them,” Klaus finished for him. “Yes, I know. It’s kind of a thing I do now.”

“Since when?” Five asked.

“Since I came back from the dead.”

There was palpable silence. They had talked about it once the apocalypse was over. Klaus spared them the detailed, but they knew he had died.

“We should go back home,” Vanya said. “Here is not the place to talk about this.”

They nodded in agreement, waiting until they were all home to continue the conversation. They talked that night, Klaus’ head more clear now, although he wasn’t particularly open to this conversation.

“Interesting,” Five said when Klaus had finished explaining himself. “It seems like the longer you deny yourself the source of food you need, the more of your self you lose. You end up driven purely on instinct.” 

“We’re a family,” Diego said. “If this is what you need to survive, we’ll help.”

Help. Klaus didn’t want help. They had never wanted to help him before. Still, it would make things easier. It meant he was able to eat at home instead of the secret of the night. He didn’t have to force himself to wait until hunger was all he could feel. He could just keep what he needed in the fridge. 

He was different now, but that was fine.

Things would be just fine.


End file.
